Well-known Member

Now that is something I might raid the piggy bank for. .. The possiblity of a genuine Quad product at an "affordable " price. A statement that the diaphragm is lighter than the air it displaces is a game changer...

Well-known Member

This is inherent to all planar magnetic driver headphones and is not new or unique

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I am not sure that that is actually true. Even a 3 micron mylar film will weigh 4.3 g per metre2 , excluding the additional mass of a metallic conductor pattern. as the density of air is a 1 kg m3 , , it will need an excursion of bigger than 0.5 cm to displace it's mass.
I find it hard to find films thinner than 3 micron. My back of envelope calculations would suggest that the mylar would need to be under 1 micron

Senior Moderator

I am not sure that that is actually true. Even a 3 micron mylar film will weigh 4.3 g per metre2 , excluding the additional mass of a metallic conductor pattern. as the density of air is a 1 kg m3 , , it will need an excursion of bigger than 0.5 cm to displace it's mass.
I find it hard to find films thinner than 3 micron. My back of envelope calculations would suggest that the mylar would need to be under 1 micron

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Belief is not the same as evidence and it certainly appears your knowledge of planar magnetic headphones began with this press release?

My post was simply to help any readers this is the nature of planar magnetic headphones and how the diaphragms are made, see for example

Look up for example hifiman, mr speakers or audeze all of whom have been making planar magnetic headphones for ten years (and therefore the market leaders that Quad have to compete with). Then you have more recent planar magnetic entrants like Oppo.

That planar magnetic headphones are not new technology, however, is not a comment on Quad's new headphone. The proof is in the listening and I am sure specialist UK headphone dealers will stock them on release. £600 is a lot and in this game it is always about listening and system synergy. I have no skin in the game and post only to respond to correct the previous hyperbole. Cheers

Well-known Member

Hi Steve , I was not trying to second guess you. That is a nice explanation for magplans
The fundemental problem with all loudspeakers is that the mass of the piston .. cone or planar surface is always denser than the air it displaces. This makes all loudspeakers inefficient. The power transmission efficiency is in the ratio of the two masses. The advantage of horn loaded speakers is that they succeed in keeping the mass of air at the apex at a higher pressure , and therfore more dense and then the horn more efficiently couples motion to a larger volume of air elsewhere.
If these quad headohones actually have diaphragms thinner and therefore less dense than the mass of air moved it would be a game changer, and maybe they do.... Much of the publicly available information about ESL and MagPlans touts that these diaphragms are lighter than the air displaced, and it is simply a myth not true

Standard Member

I will be very interested to see reviews on these.They seem to be priced mid/lower end of the market as well. As Steven has pointed out, this is not new technology. I have HE1000/400i/Monoprice 1060/560.I prefer planers to dynamic now.

Novice Member

These new Quads look interesting. Nothing really new at all in the marketing, and with Oppo's withdrawal these look very like a reworking of Oppo PM-3 with a few bits from PM-2. Mountings for the earpads are the same and headband looks very similar. Just a lot more expensive! So I wonder....